Hello again! I'm on a bit of a role so the creative spark is lit. Here's another chapter, and I just want to mention that the truly juicy parts of this story are on its way. Now without further delay, enjoy! Don't forget to review.
Chapter 7
Natasha couldn't help but notice that something was very, very wrong with Steve lately. He was acting oddly and walking a tightrope balanced between confusion, worry, and what appeared to be happiness. Ordinarily seeing one of the few people Natasha considered a friend happy would be a cause of joy rather than concern, however, she noted that this new cocktail of emotions only came into effect when Teyadarma walked into his life.
It shouldn't go without stating that Natasha actually admired and liked Teyadarma; the girl had endured so much and fought through it all. Her resolve and her dedication to enacting her revenge was admirable and Natasha wasn't afraid to admit that she, to some degree, feared the young woman.
Natasha was one of the most fearsome warriors that resided within the establishment of S.H.I.E.L.D. She was dangerous and everyone who took one look at her knew that any miss-step could cost them their life. It was Teyadarma's unassuming and almost innocent appearance that garnered her the fear of the greatest female spy.
However, it was this appearance of security that hid the undeniable beast within. Sure, upon introduction a person's perception of Teyadarma would be limited to the persona of a "good girl", one that was intentionally perpetuated Natasha noted, yet there was a feral creature lurking within. It shone through with her every look, her ever calculating and cold gaze which chilled to the core.
She could destroy a man within seconds. Yet, Natasha couldn't help but wonder if this creature within her had always been present, or if it had emerged through experience and experimentation. It was undeniable that whatever the circumstance of its conception or origin, it had been forged from the suffering and pain of its master. And despite her fear of what was within her, Natasha knew that Teyadarma would always be served by this creature. Its power was so great that she couldn't believe that it wasn't a living entity.
However, it wasn't the struggles of a woman Natasha had only know for a few weeks that were worrying her. Rather it was how it was impacting Steve.
Natasha knew that Steve cared immensely for her, it was evident to anyone who cared to pay attention to them. The way he hovered near her when they were in a room together; the protective stance he occupied whenever anyone new was presented to her; and the way he demanded the others give them their space.
He was a man in love, or very nearly close to it. And ordinarily that would be a joyous occasion, however when said man regularly put his life on the line, it could cost him. The way that he would always worry about her when they were on a mission was disconcerting, not that he had slipped up per se. But even if his attachment to her proved not to impact his ability to work and complete assignments, it would eventually prove deadly. Natasha knew that a non-friendly would undoubtably take notice and use this information to goad Steve into acting irrationally.
And this sentiment wasn't just a solitary notion, others on the team had started to notice the change in Steve. However, nothing has come of it yet.
Unaware of the cautious worry of his team mates Steve flipped through the file of his latest mission. This was the part of his "job" that he disliked most, learning about the lives of the people he was assigned to defeat. Contrary to popular opinion Steve understood the desire to protect yourself and your country, through any means necessary. After all, he is the man who voluntarily subjected himself to scientific experimentation in the pursuit of serving his man and country.
It was as he was studying the face of the leader of his latest misfits that needed straightening that he heard the scream. The piercing sound of the voice, riddled with pain and grief ripped at his heart.
He shot up and ran to Teya's door, opening it in such a rush he almost ripped it off the hinges. Rushing to her bed, he gently started shaking her shoulder. "Teya wake up! Wake up darling, it's just a dream!" he called out as she thrashed about. Her voice, her throaty screams chilling the air around him.
"Get away! Get away from me!" Teya called out as the figure came closer and closer. Mockingly inching his way towards her as his blade was dripping with blood. The darkness surrounding him acted in such a way that it both hid his every move from her and concurrently highlighted it. In the logic that was only logical in the land of the dreaming, this darkness was alive and pulsing. And Teyadarma knew that it was very much alive and thirsting for her blood.
She could hear a voice calling out to her, calling her name. She searched for it through the pulsing black, looked for the face she had come to recognise. Steve she realised was shaking her, trying to pull her back into the land of the living.
Waking with a start, Teya shot up in bed. Steve gave her a little space whilst still keeping contact. In the nearly five weeks that she had been living with him he had noticed that she came back to herself faster when he gave her some physical indication that he was still there.
Panting Teya looked around, desperately trying to identify where she was. As a child, it sometimes took her as long as seven minutes of disorientated confusion before she concluded that it was all in fact a dream. As the years bore on, she got better at figuring out what was real and what wasn't. That was of course before she was kidnapped and tortured beyond imagination, subsequently shattering her grasp on reality.
"It was all a dream" Steve whispered, not wanting to startle her. Gazing into this eyes, Teyadarma tried to determine if he was real. Stretching out her hand to his face she wanted to prove that it was all in her mind. Imagine that what the man was about to do was just a horrible nightmare, that what had happened was all a bad dream.
As her palm came into contact with the slightly stubbly skin of Steve's face, relief washed through her. She was safe and at home with Steve. Nearly overcome, Steve barely had time to ready himself as Teyadarma flung herself at him. Wrapping her arms tightly around him, her face in the crook of his neck she began to cry. Securing an arm under her legs and another around her back Steve stood and walked out of the room.
It had taken some time but Steve had come to realise that being confined within the house truly amplified her claustrophobia. It was upon chance that Steve had stumbled on Teya sitting out on the balcony, watching the stars as she silently cried. When he had come to sit next to her she had reached out to him, holding onto his hand almost as though it was the only thing that was keeping her sane. They had spent the night alternating between talking and sitting in silence. She had baked him a chocolate cake the next day.
He opened the glass door with one hand as he walked out into the night air. Taking a seat, he brought her closer, just as he pressed herself more against him. The desire he had been suppressing ever since he had laid eyes on her tried to make its appearance once again, but he pushed it down once more. It was getting more and more intense to be around her and not push her against the nearest wall. But in that moment, Teya needed him to be there for her, and he knew that he would do and give her anything she needed.
"Is all of this real?" Teya asked him, desperate for validation. Confused Steve nodded. "It's all real Kitten, I'm real" he said in hopes of providing her with some comfort. It hadn't even occurred to him that he had begun calling her kitten, endearments just came naturally to him.
"I'm scared Steve. Every time I close my eyes all I can see are the rooms they kept us in. All I hear are screams." Teya whispered her voice wavering. Pulling back slightly to look Steve gently laid a kiss on her forehead before pulling her tighter against him.
"It gets easier eventually, all the noise and visions. They don't go away, you just get better at dealing with them" Steve said. He didn't want to go too much into the origins of his own demons. He had seen some truly terrible things in war. He had spent decades trapped in a lucid dream, stuck between awake and sleep. He understood the pain that one's own mind could play on oneself.
They sat in silence the rest of the night, each clutching onto each over. Taking from the other what they needed and what they were willing to give. It wasn't until the early hours of the next morning that they headed back inside, lingering before departing to their own rooms.
The temptation to just say fuck it and spend the night with Steve was increasing, but Teya knew she wasn't ready for that. But she could feel that he was chipping away at her heart, little by little bringing down her defences. It was only a matter of time before she knew he would have her loving him. And what struck her most was that she wasn't adverse to that notion, rather the idea that she would be in love with him and he not affected in the least. Now that was something she could not have, so she resolved to change tactic.
It was time for Teya to put into play all her experience with seduction and romance, most of which she had learned from Olivia, and claim the heart of one Steve Rodgers. Because she wasn't going to lose a heart without getting one in return.
